The beginning of a career in research |
It wouldn’t be until sophomore year that I truly felt I was studying a field I really enjoyed being a part of. Freshman year I was preparing myself for the pre-medicine path and decided to apply be proactive and apply to get my research credits taken care of and join a lab. I fortunately found a position in Dr. Putonti’s lab and immediately loved the work I did there. I felt I was studying something important already as a sophomore, and I had been exposed to only one of the many ongoing projects in the lab. Throughout the semester I branched out my interests in the research setting and found how integral bioinformatics is to the scene. I quickly lost interest in the MD route and could absolutely see myself devoting my education and career to preforming research in a lab.
The very first engaged learning credit I took was the first semester with Dr. Putonti. I worked with bacteria and their viruses and enjoyed it so much that it led to a multitude of other engaged learning experiences. Since then I have taken lab credits with Dr. Putonti every semester doing research with her, I have taken a molecular biology lab doing research on Malaria, I have taken Metagenomics doing research on protozoa in Lake Michigan, and I have done research with Dr. Shapiro with phylogenetic trees. My engaged learning requirements have set the career path I look forward to pursuing everyday. |